MacBook Pro 15" Unibody Mid 2009 Subwoofer/Right Speaker Replacement

Written By: Andrew Bookholt

Comments: 29

MacBook Pro 15" Unibody Mid 2009 Subwoofer/Right Speaker Replacement

Difficulty

Moderate

Steps

Time Required

No estimate

Introduction

Rock out too hard? Use this guide to replace your blown-out subwoofer/right speaker.

Tools

Parts

MacBook Pro 15" Unibody (Mid 2009) Subwoofer/Right Speaker

Step 1

Remove the following ten screws securing the lower case to the upper case:
Seven 3 mm Phillips screws.
Three 13.5 mm Phillips screws.

May be helpful to have more distinct colors to identify the different screws.

Victor Caamano - 12/02/19

Step 2

Using both hands, lift the lower case near the vent to pop it off two clips securing it to the upper case.
Remove the lower case and set it aside.

Step 3

Remove the two 5-Point Pentalobe screws along the top edge of the battery.
You do not necessarily have to follow steps 3-6 to remove the battery in order to replace the hard drive. However it is recommended to remove all power sources from electronics before working on them.

Question: why do you remove the battery? According to Apple's official manual, this is not required (not for the mid-2009 and not for the mid-2010 15-inch MacBook Pro) - see pages 37 ff:

http://manuals.info.apple.com/en_US/MacB...

alexkli -

Quote from alexkli:

Question: why do you remove the battery? According to Apple's official manual, this is not required (not for the mid-2009 and not for the mid-2010 15-inch MacBook Pro) - see pages 37 ff:

http://manuals.info.apple.com/en_US/MacB...

http://manuals.info.apple.com/en_US/MacB...

I'm interested by your experience.

Did you have removed the optical drive without removing the battery ?

I'm just in this step now and if it is possible I would proceed like you because removing the battery void the warranty (and there is a sticker).

Thanks in advance.

youyou -

Looks like my note to step 3 appears on all repair guides that have the same step. I meant that in the context of the hard drive replacement only.

Did you have removed the optical drive without removing the battery ?

I haven't yet done anything, waiting for my MacBook Pro 15 inch mid-2010 to arrive.

alexkli -

I missed the notes and went ahead and purchased the 5 point driver for the battery before I realized it was not necessary.

I've edited the repair guide to remove the section on the battery, but I don't have the points to approve the changes.

Chris Davis -

Please note - the step about removing the battery is part of a pre-requisite guide, that is used for many of the guides, most that do require removal of the battery. Also, working inside a disassembled laptop with the battery still connected risks damaging/shorting out very expensive parts.

Eric Essen -

Absolutely. To be clear -- ALL of the above discussion is ONLY in reference to replacing the hard drive.

Chris Davis -

I replaced a hard drive in a MacBook Pro of an earlier model than this without removing the battery. The hard drive wasn't right. It only worked at about half speed, and I had to replace it once more. The second time I removed the battery and all went well. The recommendation by the iFixit staff to remove the battery before working on electronic equipment is a good one.

doug -

What is the size of those screws... I have rounded off the socket on mine and would like to replace them.

Ghatothkach Yadav -

I measured the screw size, using a micrometer, its about 1.523mm in diameter and 3.186mm in length. Not sure what screw size that is. They are not easily available I guess, unless someone is selling used ones on ebay

Ghatothkach Yadav -

Step 4

Use the tip of a spudger to bend back the finger of the "Warning: Do not remove the battery" sticker while you remove third five-point Pentalobe screw hidden underneath.

Step 5

Lift the battery by its plastic pull tab and slide it away from the long edge of the upper case.
Do not try to completely remove the battery just yet.

Removing the battery is not necessary for the hard drive removal/replacement procedures.

Erik -

My T6 (appears to be same screw driver you have - $6 on amazon for 20piece set) did NOT fit int he battery screws...not sure if I had the wrong screws or what, but I went ahead w/o battery steps and it was pretty easy.

Anthony Ettinger -

I also noticed that the new SDD (from crucial) didn't have the 4 screws, so I had to move those off the old HD and onto the new one.

Anthony Ettinger -

Just had the same issue: T6 does not fit the battery screws ;-( ... but with a little bit more preassure it was possible to remove the screws.

dirkvloenwagner - 31/10/15

Step 6

Tilt the battery back enough to access the battery cable connector.
Pull the battery cable connector away from its socket on the logic board and remove the battery from the upper case.
If you're installing a new battery, you should calibrate it after installation.

Excellent guide

Kola Ajibade - 14/06/20

Step 7

Apple sticks a small strip of clear plastic with adhesive applied to one side to the logic board behind the camera cable connector to keep it in its socket. When moving it out of the way, be sure not to break any surface-mount components off the logic board.
Hold the end of the cable retainer down with one finger while you use the tip of a spudger to slightly lift the other end and rotate it away from the camera cable connector.

I found it quite easy to carefully remove the drive from under the camera cable without disconnecting it, and guide the new drive back in under. It saved time and the danger of damaging those fragile connectors.

Glenn Richards - 21/04/19

Step 8

Disconnect the camera cable by pulling the male end straight away from its socket.
Pull the connector parallel to the face of the logic board, not straight up.

I would recommend leaving the camera cable plugged into the motherboard, and simply sliding the optical drive out from underneath it carefully. If you mistakenly life this connector straight up (as I did) you can damage either the cable connector or the motherboard socket. I damaged the connector on the cable and now the wifi antenna doesn't work. Replacing this damaged cable is about 10X more of a pain (in time and money) than the effort to slide the optical drive out from beneath this cable instead of disconnecting it.

Frank Stickney -

I agree, the same issue happened to me (My MBP no longer recognizes its wi-fi adapter). The black connector is very fragile, and very hard to slide back in after you take it out. Try not to disconnect it if you can.

Dave Yu - 23/06/14

Totally agree here, my wifi card is no longer recognized by the computer. Not sure what to do now.

raj grainger - 15/05/15

100% true! Thanx for confirming

cj67 - 28/11/16

Step 9

Peel the camera cable off the adhesive securing it to the optical drive.

When reassembling, which adhesive should be used to reattach the camera cable?

Daniele Tamponi -

Step 10

This step is only required if you have an anti-glare display. If you have a glossy display, skip this step.
Disconnect the Bluetooth cable by pulling the male end straight away from its socket.
Pull the connector parallel to the face of the logic board, not straight up.
Use the flat end of a spudger to pry the Bluetooth antenna cable from its socket on the board.

How can I determine if I have an antiglare display?

Thanks!

Dan

Dan Neunaber - 06/07/17

If you have the part in step 10, you do. If you don’t, you don’t (looks like pic in step 9).

maccentric - 05/08/18

Step 11

This step is only required if you have an anti-glare display.
Remove the two 8 mm Phillips screws securing the Bluetooth/camera cable retainer to the upper case.
One of the screws may remain captive in the Bluetooth/camera cable ground loop. If replacing the display, be sure to transfer this screw to the new unit.
Lift the Bluetooth board/cable retainer assembly out of the upper case.

Step 12

Use a spudger to pry the optical drive connector straight up off the logic board.

Step 13

Remove the single 3.5 mm Phillips screw securing the inner side of the optical drive to the upper case.

Totally stripped this screw, no idea what to do know.

What - 16/07/14

Step 14

Remove the two 3.5 mm Phillips screws securing the outer side of the optical drive to the upper case.

When installing the HD bay, the screws here will not go back. Not sure if the bracket/holes are somehow different. After completing the install, everything seems secure. Does anyone think not having these screws is critical beyond securing the drive?

toddfletcher -

Step 15

Lift the optical drive from its left edge and pull it out of the upper case.

Step 16

Use the flat end of a spudger to pry the hard drive/IR sensor cable connector up off the logic board.
Peel the hard drive cable up from the channel within the subwoofer and right speaker.

Step 17

Using the flat end of a spudger, pry the subwoofer/right speaker connector straight up off the logic board.

I'm over 1024 characters and I'm not rewriting it, So your getting 4 comments! you'll see why!

So recently I switched from "smcFanControl" to "Macs Fan Control" ( because I wanted temperature controlled fan speeds ) and it has been running really well. so I thought that today was a good time ( 1:00 or 1AM ) to do some system maintenance on my MacBook Pro. And out came my trusty "iFixIt 54 bit driver Kit" and off went the bottom to dust everything out to prepare for the winter.

imark7777777 - 12/10/15

I was also feeling brave enough to tackle my little problem, you see I have noticed for a while a crackling sound in my speakers and I am not one to crank it up to 11, so I assumed that something might have gotten in there between the grill and the speaker ( I also thought it would be neat to check out this whole speaker subwoofer assembly ). I also just recently noticed it earlier on the right side which is directly above the optical drive ( yes I still have one of those! ) so I figured it would be pretty easy to quickly get to and I was right. all went fine and dandy until I went to unplug the cable for the speaker………… Whereupon, I IMMEDIATELY RIPPED THE CONNECTOR OFF THE CIRCUIT BOARD!!!!!!!!! Now mind you I've been through this before and I certainly wasn't rushing it, I already knew which way the connector worked because I discovered them when I took the fans out to clean them...

imark7777777 - 12/10/15

Step 18

Remove the following four screws securing the subwoofer and right speaker to the upper case:
Two 3.2 mm Phillips screws.
One 2.6 mm Phillips screw.
One 5 mm Phillips screw.

Step 19

Lift the subwoofer and right speaker assembly out of the upper case.

Conclusion

To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.

Author

Andrew Bookholt

578096 Reputation

2 comments

Excellent tutorial : be careful when removing the woofer connection : do it exactly as it is pictured otherwise you may harm the motherboard.

thierry28722 - 02/07/17

I followed these steps in order to inspect the cracked subwoofer of my MBP. After disassembly, the membrane was unglued and instead of replacing, finnally I glued it again with Neopren. It works perfectly again !

Laurence Bourgeois - 20/12/19